Guyana, Cuban Company to sign technical assistance agreement to enhance honey production
With the aim of boosting honey production, Guyana and Cuban Company, CATEC-Labiofam, will be signing a technical assistance agreement shortly.
Guyana wants to increase production of honey by utilising Cuba’s extensive production experience, as the nation is recognised for this.
This was revealed by Director General of the Ministry of Agriculture, Madanlall Ramraj following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Guyana and Cuba at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, Liliendaal on Saturday last.
Guyana has several hectares of mostly undeveloped land for beekeeping, which offers enormous potential for the growth of the apiculture sector and will enable Guyana to become a CARICOM honey exporter.
Ramraj underscored that while Guyana pushes forward with the rapid development of its agriculture sector to achieve food security, the agreement will encompass a wide range of topics that will be advantageous to all parties.
“These areas include develop training (technical assistance) for beekeeping producers, apiary management, advice on monitoring bee populations (management of Africanised bees) and to train veterinary technicians in the branch of beekeeping, identifying the main diseases of bees and the necessary treatment,” Ramraj explained.
Additional areas of interest for which the agreement will allow cooperative projects include urban and suburban agriculture; horticulture; rice and other grain breeding and genetic development; training for producers on the control of pesticide use in agriculture; and guidance on plant health. This includes producing, conserving, and using biological products; it also entails the safe and efficient use of pesticides, as well as integrated pest control.
The demand for pure honey is rising worldwide due to its many health benefits, including its use as a natural sweetener and as a great source of vitamins, minerals, calcium, and antioxidants.
Last Saturday, the Governments of Guyana and Cuba inked a MoU to provide technical assistance services in forestry and agriculture in Guyana.
The MoU seeks to establish a general framework of collaboration between the Ministries of Agriculture in Cuba and Guyana with an emphasis on agriculture and vegetable products, livestock and animal products, beekeeping, forestry, and other areas of interest.
In March of last year, Deputy Director, Felix Cordero Alvarez led a high-level delegation from APICUBA to the Guyana Embassy to discuss potential collaboration in the honey producing sector with Guyanese.